New saddle

Bodshi

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2009
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Well that was this week's new experience - we went to get a new saddle. AJ was started in a treed (fitted professionally) but of course he changed shape quite rapidly when I started riding him, so at that point I got my lovely Solution saddle fitter lady out to fit Raf's old Ansur treeless saddle to him. I bloody love that saddle, it's been a long time since Raf could use it, due to his withers becoming more prominent with age, but I saved it all this time 'just in case'.

So was really excited to be putting AJ in it but sadly and unexpectedly (for me) it didn't have the same magical effect as it did in Raf. AJ was ok in it, but nothing special (unlike Raf who went markedly better in it than anything else we tried, except his bareback pad which he also loved. Interestingly AJ isn't fussed about the bareback pad either).

Anyway, the Ansur is a bit of a pain to put on because the pad obviously has to sit very precisely so the channel clears the spine, and lining up numnah, pad and saddle from the ground can be tricky, especially in times of stress, like when you need to be quick!

So I decided to go back to treed and now have a GFS cob jump (more like a GP) in XW+ It has a fairly flat tree with a low cantle (good for the older less flexible rider!) and suits a wide flat back such as AJ's. The other very close contender was a Kent & Masters which was lighter, but the GFS just had the edge fitwise, plus the K&M has a much higher cantle. Both saddles are adjustable but the K&M would probably have had more resale value.

The actual fitting was a bit of a nightmare as we travelled to the fitter and used his arena which for some reason was way too stressful for AJ and sweat was actually running down his legs by the time we finished. So I don't really know if he had any preference for a particular saddle because he was fairly oblivious to the actual fitting, he was too busy stressing about his surroundings. So fingers crossed for when I actually ride in it - got a lesson tonight so will find out then.
 
You have to go with how things feel don't you.
I loved the Freeform and went as far as importing a bigger seat, but she just grew and changed. Treeless doesn't just fit does it, people often assume that they will.
 
Treeless can be as tricky as treed to get right IMO. My Solution saddle fitter (who checked and fitted the Ansur) could make minor tweaks to the shimming which would make so much difference to how I felt. That's one of the reasons I loved it, because she could so easily adjust it to suit, but I needed her to come at least once a year to do a check so it was equally time consuming and expensive as having a treed.

AJ seems ok with the new saddle so far. TBH nothing I have used on him seems to make a tremendous difference. But it is easier for me to have the treed. And apparently AJ needs more work. He started being a bit silly in my lesson, so was given some harder work, at which point he had a tantrum so instructor sent us off cantering round the school, after which he was given a new task to learn (shoulder in) and then he did start thinking, plus we had to do a very controlled sitting trot followed by 'extended' trot and finally a hard stop from extended trot, which he wasn't expecting. My instructor doesn't pussyfoot around. I need to be more demanding and stop treating AJ like a baby!
 
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